Pre-K Color Storytime, Friday, May 15 @ 10:30

Books

Pete the Cat and His White Shoes by Eric Litwin. Everyone's favorite cat in everyone's favorite story!

 Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. It took me a few pages to pick up on the right rhythm for this: Page One: Read with astonishment: Lemons are not red. And then point out that this is a MAGIC color book and something is going to happen to that lemon when you turn the page. Turn the die cut and -- the lemon is yellow! The apple is red! Next page: Here is some blue grass. Wait a minute! Is the grass blue? Turn page. The grass is GREEN. The sky is blue. 

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Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood. Owl stays up into the day to see --- COLORS! and WOW is what he has to say. If you have ANY talent with the paint brush at all, paint along while you talk.

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd. Don't need artistic talent for this.  I photocopied the dog and drew spots on him.

Don't Push the Button by Bill Cotter.

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont. I paused at the end of each couplet of this funny rhyming readaloud, I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by ever humorous Karen Beaumont for the children to guess the finishing rhyme: "So I take some red and I paint my...HEAD"  They weren't very good at guessing last year.  I'm going to try painting on a figure on the paper this time.

Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley. Save for Monster Storytime.

One by Kathryn Otoshi. How do you stop bullying? You just do.  A simple, perfect book.

My Blue Is Happy by Jessica Young. This wonderful book is a great link between colors and the emotions we have feel. It's as wide open as the sea, leaving lots of room for discussion. For example, her friend loves pink -- makes her think of tutus and ballet. But it makes her think of itching mosquito bites! A great chance for interaction.

Vincent Paints His House by Tedd Arnold.  Amazing -- a readable book about Vincent van Gogh painting!

Songs

• Bumping up and down in my little red wagon
• Five green and speckled frogs, which I do as a clapping song too.

This is my favorite version of this old favorite. I do it with a color pennant I can stretch out on my clothesline. Some kids don't really know their colors and do need prompts! I did this with my mostly twos today and they were pretty hopeless -- didn't know their colors or what they were wearing. Best maybe to stick to songs moms can do.
To: The Muffin Man
If you're wearing red today, red today, red today,
If you're wearing red today stand up and shout, "Hooray!"
Blue, brown, PINK, etc.

CraftCraft

Matisse Suncatchers

Tissue paper squares/scraps plus sequinsfeathersstring on contact paper to create collages. This technique is nice because the objects are repositionable. The kids fool around with their creations more than if they’re intent on gluing.

Plays
Disco Ball.

Brown Rabbit's Shape Book by Alan Baker makes for a great storytime opener.  I have a box wrapped in bright green paper with a big bow on it, and a brown rabbit puppet.  Brown Rabbit opens the box and, just as the book says, finds four colored balloons.  I blow them up and release them by turns to go whizzing over the heads of the audience. VERY good. 

A Clown Magic Coloring Book by Haines' House of Cards, Inc., with the pages that go from blank to colored as you fan them. 

Different colored matchbox cars. Line them up on the edge of your table and start singing this chant: Down around the corner at the used car lot, there were ? used cars, all waiting to be bought.  Along came ?, all alone, he picked out the red one and he drove home.